"Red-Headed Vulture and Long-Billed Vulture", Folio from the Shah Jahan Album

Mansur|Mir 'Ali Haravi

verso: ca. 1615–20; recto: ca. 1535–45 · Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper · Islamic Art

The artist Mansur became such a master in painting flora and fauna that he received the title nadir al-'asr, "rare one of the age." Ornithologically accurate, the vultures as revealed by the brush of Mansur are far more than avian specimens. His masterful hand is evident in the subtle gradations of sooty hues and pearly beige and gray shades of the feathers. The sketchy rock suggestive of ground plane and the linear outline of the half-toned rock are not an actual habitat but a plausible setting out of the artist’s imagination.

Artist

Mansur|Mir 'Ali Haravi

Date

verso: ca. 1615–20; recto: ca. 1535–45

Medium

Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

Purchase, Rogers Fund and The Kevorkian Foundation Gift, 1955